Multi-phase electrical distribution and current collecting system for high speed vehicles

ABSTRACT

A collector head movable along a passageway defined by a plurality of parallel multi-phase energizable feed conductors comprises for each conductor a set of longitudinally spaced apart contact shoes supported by a longitudinal carrying structure for resilient engagement with the corresponding conductor. Resilient support means, such as pneumatic cushions, for the carrying structures improve guide response of the collector head.

United States Patent 91 Payen [451 Apr. 17, 1973 MULTI-PHASE ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION AND CURRENT COLLECTING SYSTEM FOR HIGH SPEED VEHICLES Inventor: Jean-Pol Payen, Grenoble, France Merlin Gerin, Societe Anonyme, Grenoble, France Filed: Oct. 6, 1970 Appl. No.: 78,547

Assignee:

US. Cl. ..191/45 R, l9l/59 Int. Cl. ..B60l 5/08 Field of Search 191/45 R, 45 A, 49,

Reierences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1971 Falque ..9l/45 A Primary Examiner-Gerald M Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher 57] ABSTRACT A collector head movable along a passageway defined by a plurality of parallel multi-phase energizable feed conductors comprises for each conductor a set of longitudinally spaced apart contact shoes supported by a longitudinal carrying structure for resilient engagement with the corresponding conductor. Resilient support means, such as pneumatic cushions, for the carrying structures improve guide response of the collector head.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Blanchard [91/45 I I MULTI-PIIASE ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION AND CURRENT COLLECTING SYSTEM FOR HIGH SPEED VEHICLES It has already been proposed in a collector device of this kind to guide a collector head independently of the vehicle by feed conductors so that the collector head is not affected by the lateral movements of the vehicle,

more particularly in the case of air cushion supported m vehicles. The contact shoes or brushes are urged in customary manner by compression springs which act on the face of the shoes opposite that which is in contact with the conducting rail. This arrangement has It is an object of the invention to overcome these drawbacks and to provide a simple collector arrangement having outstanding guide characteristics and which is substantially free of undesired lateral movements.

It is another object of the invention to provide a current collecting system avoiding any spark in the current collecting region between the contact shoes and the conducting rails.

Still another object of the invention is to permit higher speeds of travel of the collector head.

Another object of the invention is to improve the mounting and fastening of the rails and to permit a reduction in the cost of the installation, the collector head according to the invention being less sensitive to inequalities of the track.

Another object of the invention is to simplify the construction of the collector head consisting of an assembly of standard parts. i

It is a further object of the invention to provide a light-weight collector head structure having longitudinally spaced support members permitting to dispose for example electrical connection members in the space thus liberated between the spaced support member.

Still another object of the invention is to improve the contact pressure of the contact shoes against the conducting rails by means of pneumatic cushions having better, since more constant, pressures elongation characteristics as compression springs.

Another object of the invention is to improve the guide characteristics of the high speed collector head by the provision of pneumatical clamping devices.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of several embodiments made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, on which FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a current collecting device in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section on a larger scale along the plane [1-41 of FIG. 1 through one of the current collecting members;

FIGS. 3 to 6 are end views, partially in cross-section, of different embodiments of the collector head invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial view in elevation of another embodiment of the invention with intercommunication between longitudinally spaced pneumatic cushions.

As shown in the figures, an electric feed track is composed of three conductive rails 10, 12 and 14 arranged in a triangle and extending parallel to the path of a vehicle (not shown) the propulsion motor of which, for instance a linear motor, is fed by the rails 10, 12 and 14.

The rails 10, I2 and 14 are supported by posts or supports (not shown) and they constitute a guide path for a movable current collecting assembly in the form of a collector head designated generally as 16 and capable of sliding within the passageway formed by the rails.

The collector head 16 comprises three elongated carrying structures 18, 20 and 22 in the form of channel or U-beams the opening of which faces the rails 10, 12 and 14, respectively, and which extend parallel to the latter over a certain length The three carrying structures 18, 20 and 22 are borne at each of their ends by cushiony bodies 24, 26 and 28 and 24, 26' and 28, respectively, mounted on transversal flat web portions 30 and 30 of insulating material which may or may not be assembled by a spacing rod (see FIG. 7).

The current collecting members housed in the carrying structures 18, 20 and 22 are all identical and in the following only one of them will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The channel beam 18 is rigidly fastened at one of its ends by lugs 32 to the front face of the block-shaped elastic body 24 via metallic disc 34 cemented to the block 24 and, in identical fashion, at the other of its ends to the block 24'. Each channel beam, preferably of metal, supports contact shoes 36, 36, 36", etc., which are longitudinally spaced apart a fixed distance, and the contact surface of which having the shape of a convex V tits in a mating surface of corresponding shape of the rail 10 under the action of a compression spring 38 interposed between the bottom of the structure 18 and the base of the contact shoe. Each shoe, as for instance 36', is slidly mounted in a guide 40 which is itself secured by a strap 42 to the carrying beam 18. A screen member 44, advantageously of insulating material, covers on the inside the front portion of the carrying structure 18 and its front edges 46 extend with an outward flare so as to surround with clearance the rail 10. The edges of the latter also extend in the direction of the carrying beam 18 by lips 48 which penetrate with clearance in the spaces provided between the side walls of the screen member 44 and the guide 40. It is easy to see that in normal operation the shoe 36 is urged by the spring 38 against the rail 10, the V contact surfaces assuring a self-centering of the shoe and avoiding any contact between the encased portions of the lips 44, 48 and the guide 40. The latter constitute safety devices which avoid any derailment of the collector head in case of accident.

The resultant of the forces of the springs 38 of the different shoes 36, 36', 36" of the carrying beam 18 is transmitted to the blocks 24, 24' and elastically transmitted to the web portions 30 and 30 which are urged towards a position of stable equilibrium in which the resultants of the different beams 18, 20 and 22 balance each other.

Considered from another viewpoint, one can say that the shoes 36, 36', 36" are urged against the rail by the combined action of two elastic systems arranged in series, in the present case the elastic bodies 24, 24 and the springs 38.

In operation, the collector head 16 is pulled via any system (not shown) by the vehicle and sliding between the rails l0, l2 and 14 which guide it. The characteristics of the springs 38 and of the elastic bodies 24, 26, 28 and 24', 26', 28 are, of course, determined in such a manner as to maintain contact of the shoes under all circumstances, the springs 38, for instance, compensating for slight local disturbances of short duration and the elastic bodies of higher inertia compensating for the other disturbances.

Many elastic systems can be used and FIGS. 3 to 6 illustrate various preferred embodiments of the invention.

In FIG. 3 the elastic bodies inserted between the carrying beams 18, and 22 and the web portions 30, 30' are simpleelastic blocks 50, 50', 50", for instance of elastomer or rubber whose thickness varies as a function of the stresses applied. The elastic bodies shown in FIG. 4 are pneumatic cushions formed, for instance, of an air-tight envelope 52, 52, 52" inflated with air or other gas to a given pressure. The envelopes 52, 52', 52" may be sealed or provided with an inflation valve 54, shown on the cushion 52', for possible adjustment of the volume enclosed and therefore of the internal pressure.

FIG. 5 shows a combined elastic system with pneumatic cushion 56 and elastic block 58. In the example shown the block 58 constitutes the envelope of thecushion 56 and thus assures tightness and support. The two elements can, of course, be independent and juxtaposed.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of a pneumatic cushion 60 and an elastic block 62, the two being superimposed, while numerous other operative arrangements are, of course, possible.

It will be understood that by the selection of the materials and of the structures of the elastic systems, any desired law of variation can be obtained.

The use of pneumatic cushions in accordance with the invention offers numerous other possibilities well known in the art of pneumatic suspensions of vehicles and in particular the addition of a pressure regulating device (not shown). By connecting the cushions 52, 52, 52" of the system of FIG. 4 to a pressure source, preferably via a regulator, it is, for instance, possible to maintain a constant pressure in the cushions and therefore a constant force of application of the beams 18, 20 and 22 in the direction of the associated rails, whatever the wear of the contact shoes 36. The pressure prevailing in the cushions 52, 52', 52 can also be regulated as a function of certain parameters, for instance of the speed, in such a manner as to increase the force of application of the shoes at high speed or else as a function of the centrifugal force in order to apply differential pressures to the shoes in the curves of the path.

FIG. 7 illustrates another variant embodiment of the invention in which the volumes of two pneumatic cushions 64, 64' associated with the ends of a U-shaped support, for instance 22, communicate via a conduit 66 in which an orifice of adjustable throttled cross-section 68 is advantageously inserted. The conduit 66 permits a transfer of fluid from a cushion 64 to the associated cushion 64' in case of a difference in pressure, resulting, for instance, from a pitching movement, the braking of the flow of fluid through the orifice 68 acting on the damping of the movement. In FIG. 7, the web portions 30 and 30' are connected by a rod 70. It is obvious that interconnections of the pneumatic cushion enclosures associated with the same web can be provided in order to improve the lateral stabilization of the collector head and that the arrangements more particularly described above can be used individually or in any operative combination.

The invention is, of course, not limited to the various embodiments which have been more particularly described and shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings, but it extends rather to any variant falling within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is l. A multi-phase electrical distribution and current collecting system comprising a movable collector head, a plurality of stationary multi-phase energizable parallelly spaced apart linearly extending conductors defining a passageway for said collector head, each conductor including an inwardly facing contact surface for electrically feeding and mechanically guiding said collector head, said collector head including for each conductor a set of longitudinally spaced apart contact shoes shaped for engagement with the corresponding contact surface and an elongated carrying structure extending along a portion of the conductor for movably supporting the contact shoes of said set, first elastic means on said carrying structure to resiliently bias said contact shoes away from said carrying structure in the direction of the corresponding conductor, said collector head having central web means carrying peripheral second elastic means to resiliently bias the carrying structures away from said web means in the direction of said conductors, respectively, so that said contact shoes are urged against the contact surface of said conductors by the combined action of said first and second elastic means.

2. A system according to claim 1, said first elastic means comprising spring means, said second elastic means comprising elastomeric pads.

3. A system according to claim 1, said second elastic means comprising gas filled cushions.

4. A movable current collector head for use with a current distribution system having a plurality of regularly spaced apart parallel conductors defining an inner passageway for said collector head, said collector head comprising central web means carrying peripheral first elastic means to resiliently support a plurality of circumferentially regularly spaced'supporting beams, a plurality of contact shoes supported by said beams for radial movement towards and away from the center of said collector head, and second elastic means on said beams to urge said contact shoes away from said beams.

5. A movable current collector head according to claim 4, said web means comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart support members extending transversely of said beams.

6. A movable current collector head according to claim 4, said beams having a generally U-shaped cross means between cushion means supporting the same beam.

9. A movable current collector head according to claim 8, said fluid communication means comprising throttled conduit means. 

1. A multi-phase electrical distribution and current collecting system comprising a movable collector head, a plurality of stationary multi-phase energizable parallelly spaced apart linearly extending conductors defining a passageway for said collector head, each conductor including an inwardly facing contact surface for electrically fEeding and mechanically guiding said collector head, said collector head including for each conductor a set of longitudinally spaced apart contact shoes shaped for engagement with the corresponding contact surface and an elongated carrying structure extending along a portion of the conductor for movably supporting the contact shoes of said set, first elastic means on said carrying structure to resiliently bias said contact shoes away from said carrying structure in the direction of the corresponding conductor, said collector head having central web means carrying peripheral second elastic means to resiliently bias the carrying structures away from said web means in the direction of said conductors, respectively, so that said contact shoes are urged against the contact surface of said conductors by the combined action of said first and second elastic means.
 2. A system according to claim 1, said first elastic means comprising spring means, said second elastic means comprising elastomeric pads.
 3. A system according to claim 1, said second elastic means comprising gas filled cushions.
 4. A movable current collector head for use with a current distribution system having a plurality of regularly spaced apart parallel conductors defining an inner passageway for said collector head, said collector head comprising central web means carrying peripheral first elastic means to resiliently support a plurality of circumferentially regularly spaced supporting beams, a plurality of contact shoes supported by said beams for radial movement towards and away from the center of said collector head, and second elastic means on said beams to urge said contact shoes away from said beams.
 5. A movable current collector head according to claim 4, said web means comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart support members extending transversely of said beams.
 6. A movable current collector head according to claim 4, said beams having a generally U-shaped cross section, the web portion of each beam being perforated to accommodate said contact shoes.
 7. A movable current collector head according to claim 4, said second elastic means comprising inflatable cushion means.
 8. A movable current collector head according to claim 7, further comprising fluid communication means between cushion means supporting the same beam.
 9. A movable current collector head according to claim 8, said fluid communication means comprising throttled conduit means. 